Southwest Airlines says it has lost US$10m to $15m so far from the partial govt shutdown but overall travel demand remains strong, boosting the carrier's outlook for Q1 revenue. The airline disclosed the shutdown impact Thursday as it reported a smaller Q4 profit than a year earlier, but still better than analysts had expected. The govt shutdown is grounding some govt and contractor travellers. It is also delaying approval of Southwest's plan to begin flying from California to Hawaii, because FAA regulators who must approve the service remain off the job. CE Gary Kelly said demand for tickets remains strong, including among corporate travellers. Southwest predicted that revenue for each seat flown one mile will rise by between 4% and 5% in Q1 if there is no further damage from the govt shutdown. <br/>
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Southwest Airlines will end service to Mexico City March 30, becoming the latest North American airline to exit the Mexican capital. The airline currently serves Mexico City from Houston Hobby, operating 4 times daily. It began flights on the route in Oct 2015 with twice daily service, and doubled the frequency in 2017. Southwest CE Gary Kelly says the airline is planning to focus on international destinations from its strong points in the USA, and leisure markets have performed better. While the Mexico City route had shown some "nice improvements", it is mostly a business travel market, he says. The carrier's exit from nonstop service between Mexico City and Houston Hobby will leave the route unserved. Aeromexico, Interjet and United Airlines offer nonstop service between Houston Intercontinental and Mexico City. <br/>
In results accounting for the impact of US tax reforms, a fleet transition and a labour agreement, JetBlue Airways reported an adjusted 2018 net income of US$487m, down compared to $574m in 2017. The adjusted figures exclude the gain of $502m in 2017 as a result of the tax reforms, as well as one-time costs in 2018 related to an Embraer E190 fleet transition and a labour agreement with the airline’s pilots. JetBlue CE Robin Hayes said, “During 2018, we continued to work on our plan to strengthen the foundation of JetBlue and position the company to thrive … 2018 was a year of significant fuel volatility ... We are mindful of the external environment but remain focused on executing on the initiatives we control, which we believe will create value and drive returns for our owners.” <br/>
IndiGo will take more deliveries of the longer-range Airbus A321neo aircraft next year as it plans to launch more international flights, its interim CE said Wednesday after the company's profit fell sharply. "We are focussed on building a large and profitable air transportation network in and out of India and are adding capacity in line with our long-term growth plans," Rahul Bhatia said after the airline's quarterly profit fell 75% on high fuel costs and a weak rupee in a competitive domestic market. IndiGo, which took deliveries of 55 aircraft in 2018, has a 41.5% share of the domestic market but carries only 6% of the country's international passengers. It expects to expand its passenger carrying capacity by 34% in the Jan-March quarter, with almost a third of it coming from international routes using the longer-range A321neo planes. <br/>
Flybe is seeking to reassure the market about the future of its proposed takeover by a Virgin-led consortium, amid reports that one of its biggest shareholders has threatened to take legal action to stop the transaction from going ahead. In a Jan 24 notice to the London Stock Exchange, Flybe said it had received half of the proceeds from a GBP20m (US$26.1m) bridge loan facility which the Connect Airways consortium agreed to provide in order to shore up the struggling carrier’s liquidity. “Flybe continues to receive payments from its card acquirers in accordance with the arrangements agreed at the time of the SPA [share price agreement] being entered into. The arrangements with the company’s credit card acquirers and banks are important to enable Flybe to continue to trade, and are conditional themselves upon the SPA completing,” the airline said. <br/>
A Florida-bound flight minutes from takeoff had to be evacuated Thursday and 10 passengers were taken to hospital after fumes from de-icing seeped into the cabin. Air Transat Flight 782 destined for Fort Lauderdale, Fla. from Quebec City was at the de-icing station shortly before 11 am when passengers complained of feeling faint. Airport firefighters were called and the flight was emptied, with passengers returning to the terminal. A Jean Lesage International Airport spokeswoman said 12 passengers were affected. Initial reports were that 5 people had been taken to hospital by ambulance suffering from symptoms such as vomiting, dizziness and sore eyes. A hospital spokesman, said there were “no serious cases,” but he declined to provide additional details on their condition. <br/>
Alaska Air Group executives say the airline has moved beyond the worst of its recent financial troubles, having turned a corner toward financial improvement. "Our growth is strong… Demand is solid," says CE Brad Tilden. "The progress we are making is also starting to show up in our financial results." The comments came as Alaska announced it earned an operating profit in 2018 of US$643m, down 47% in one year. Alaska's 2018 net profit slipped 54% to $437m. The company generated $8.3b in operating revenue last year, up 5% year-on-year, while operating expenses jumped 14% to $7.6b. Alaska's 2018 CASM increased 8% in one year to 11.66 cents, while CASM excluding fuel and special item expenses inched up just 3% to 8.50 cents. Revenue per available seat mile slipped 0.6% in one year to 11.93 cents, Alaska says. <br/>